Tomato Sauce

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,923 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together92,116 recipes

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together98,233 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

5. Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together50,459 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes

Provide the main body and liquid of the sauce as they break down during stewing.

Butter

Adds richness and, rolled in flour, helps thicken the sauce.

Sugar

Adds sweetness that balances the tomatoes' acidity.

The step that matters

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, flour, sugar):

1. Capsicumfits better
2. Arrowrootfits better
3. Shallotfits better
4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, flour, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.